jrt

That too, Belfast. Gotta keep those gaskets looking young and smooth. Ratchet- glad you got the Marathon Man reference.

Try this, Belfast (links to ebay) Or here is a picture of some on a Sport 1100. They do look loud.

Hey, I know that guy

You guys are on crack- there's all sorts of good riding in Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc. Ohio is really nice along the eastern side close to PA and WV. MN- Ben, ride along the 'apple highway' starting at LaCrosse, WI. Dayum nice ride. The deal is that we all get complacent about local rides because we ride them so much. About the most forlorn driving I have done has to be a tossup between Indiana or Ontario.

Isn't that just a liquor cabinet? Those are really good suggestions ratchethack. I would add three small things- 1) a magnet on a telescoping handle 2) a small led flashlight to look into holes and crevices 3) dental picks. I can't tell you how often these come in handy. Fortunately, there's a dental school here in town, so I have a wide variety of them. is it safe? J

yep, its the brake. There's probably a whole bunch of old brake dust built up in there; it should be cleaned periodically. Mine does it as well.

I think EVERY biker has done the kill-switch dance.

^^^ that's odd. You can check it's operation pretty quickly. Disconnect the wire lead, attach an ohmmeter to the brass neutral-switch connector and to ground. Put it in neutral, it should show no resistance. Put it in gear, it should show infinite resistance.

FYI, mostly so Jaap can how the colonies are doing. This upcoming weekend in historic Pella, Iowa. http://www.pellatuliptime.com/ Pella celebrates it's Netherland heritage by having a tulip festival. It's pretty silly, but the tulips _are_ nice. In typical Iowan tradition, there will be too much food and a 'tulip queen' will be crowned. Jaap, your people have spread forth, multiplied, and now they make windowsand farm equipment.

Hi Howard, and welcome. Based on your self-assesment, a Guzzi would be a fine bike for you. I am biased, but I think build and bike quality is pretty high with the exception of a few bikes generally, and a few specific points on most bikes. Relays aren't an issue anymore, that's something that used to come up frequently. So is 'tank suck'. Grounding (earth) always has been an issue with Guzzi's. The charging system is somewhat limited, so you have to make the most of it. The factory workers are apparently allergic to grease, so when (if) you get one, make sure your dealer greases the rear splines on the drive. Rare issues that have come up are the wheel spacers being incorrect length (a couple of these recently ), single plate clutch grenading, and brake warpage. Like I said- rare issues. Perfect. You're wife will be 25% uncomfortable. Mine can ride on the back of my bike for 2-3 hours then she's had enough. Other people are perfectly fine with the pillion seat. Kind of depends on your wife, I guess. Rich Maund rebuilds these seats and does a swell job. The Guzzi is a more aggessive riding position than either, and I'll wager the pillion seat is less comfortable than either. Take them both out for a test ride and let your heart decide. One of them should! Clutch cables - there isn't one. The 6-speed has a hydraulic clutch (that works pretty darn well) Also, the spring will be a non-issue. If you do get a bike within the recall range, then just have it fixed. I bought an extra spring for mine (which has never broken, by the way) just to ensure that it never will break as long as I carry the spare. Besides, I think this was an issue with a relatively small number of bikes.

Nah, the paint is too stock for that...

There's a fellow that advertises on the MGNOC news and I've seen him post to the loopframe list- John Chicoine- that might do a rebuild on it. I have read many good testimonials about his loopframe cardan joint rebuilds. He sells rebuilds for about 1/2 the cost of new. Jason

Just keep an eye on oil consumption, as you say. I haven't noticed any oil consumption on mine with 15K miles on it. Seems to be running just fine, so I'm going to leave her be. And yes, you can get outrageous miles out of a Guzzi engine. I have 170K+ miles on a G5- ran fine, with a little top-end knock. I know a fellow that has 500K+ miles on his T3. That one had a top end rebuild, but it's the original bottom end. J

And importantly, does the person who correctly diagnoses the problem get a quiz point?

You could put some grease on the cush drive....I've no doubt that it is dry as a bone. As a bonus, you get to remove the rear wheel again.

I can't see how pulling the engine would cause this, but I could see how messing up the wiring WHILE pulling the engine could. Didn't you replace the coils (to dual-plug ones)? If so, do they hook up the same? When the pin is grounded, is the resultant spark weak? (I'm wondering if you have a ground loop) Alternatively, is there an unintended ground? Does the battery drain? Or, my last guess at the moment- the ground wire to the ECU might have come unconnected (desoldered/broke). This is just a variant on idea 2.

This auction is so exciting that you'll pay for the whole seat, but only use the FRONT HALF!!!!

How does the bike handle? It's kind of a far-out idea, but can you check the square-ness of the axel to the swingarm?

Sorry Carl, didn't mean to derail your thread. Martin is correct; I was just going off on a tangent. I'm tangential. To bring it back on track- is there anyway to get airtech to put a round headlight hole in the 1100 bodywork? That really is the biggest drawback to that set of bodywork. It otherwise looked great as a mockup on your frankensport. J

I hope he knows of a good chrome shop.

Woah now- Ginger Baker lives in Germany and sells Guzzi parts? /goes and puts on a Cream album....

And you've had this bike for how many minutes?

So Nogbad, did you ever take the slack out of the split-pin thrust gudgeon?

Many people complain about vibrations and a flat spot around or just below 4K rpm. There's a couple ways around it, but it's still too early to worry about. Really, the bike will feel tight and strained for 5-6000 miles, and THEN it really starts to smooth out. At 10K miles the Guzzi motor is just finding it's feet. It's a long teething process, but makes for an outstanding long-term ride. Sorry to mix anatomy analogies. I agree with comments above- don't baby it. Accelerate fairly hard up to the rpm limits to bed in the rings. It is a real pain to do so, because it doesn't give you the chance to motor along at a pleasant clip...which is what the bike wants to do. And don't idle in gear with the clutch pulled in- put it in neutral. It's much better for the drive spline and clutch. J

Hi Supertwin- Yes, nice bikes. I suggest you post the 'for sale' part in the classified section. I can move this thread for you if you want. J